Ethel is one of our Miniature donkeys. She is petite and grey in colour with a very striking dorsal stripe running down her back. Fundraising efforts were made in order to pay for Ethel’s transport and travel costs. Thanks to the incredible people who donated, we were able to successfully bring Ethel home and her new life started at the sanctuary . Ethel is an incredibly sweet donkey who loves being with her donkey family here at the sanctuary where she can finally feel safe and loved.

We were faced with an agonising decision back in November 2021, as Ethel developed two large growths on her nose and armpit. Her health was slowly deteriorating as they began to impact her quality of life. The sanctuary liaised with specialist’s vets in the UK, who suggested trying to remove these lumps. However, due to the size and location of the lumps, this was not going to be an easy task and they could not guarantee that Ethel would make it through surgery. Being the tough little miniature donkey Ethel is, she exceeded all expectations, despite the surgery being much more complicated than the vets originally anticipated. After a lengthy stay recuperating at Liphook Equine Hospital, Ethel was given the all clear to come home. After a couple of cancellations, Ethel and Emmett finally made it home back to Jersey soil just before Christmas. Thanks to the amazing generosity from everybody who donated to Ethel’s surgery, she is now free to live out her days here at the sanctuary. This not only impacted Ethel’s life but also Emmett, as he wouldn’t have been able to face another soul mate loss. Ethel and Emmett are truly bonded and seeing how they rely on each other for comfort and stability is very heartwarming.

However, sadly the lump has grown back under Ethel’s armpit. The vets have advised us that they won’t be able to do another surgery on Ethel, as they did as much as they could for her the first time round. Please be rest assured that Ethel is not in any pain, she is still her stubborn self and happy as ever making the most of her life at the sanctuary. We are monitoring her very closely and we will make sure we do everything we can to help her. However, as much as this breaks all our hearts to say - we don’t know how long we have left with her, so every little moment counts. Luckily Ethel’s health is still going well and she is keeping strong.

Emmet is the slightly larger miniature donkey with a fluffy brown coat and was the first to arrive at the sanctuary. He came from the UK where he had been living at a small petting zoo along with another female miniature donkey, who he had a very close bond with. Emmet is such a playful donkey, you can often spot him rolling around on the grass just like a dog! He has a very loud voice and is not afraid to use it.

Unfortunately after Emmet’s partner passed away, he became very depressed and wouldn’t accept any other companion. This led his previous owners to rehome him, as they knew he wasn’t happy in his current situation. After a long car journey and boat ride, Emmett arrived at Chestnut Farm Sanctuary . Initially he lived with Wilbur, our Shetland pony. Emmett tolerated Wilbur and eventually built up his confidence and trust. However, we knew that to fully allow him the best quality of life, Emmett really needed another donkey companion. We realised that due to his previous history, finding the right soul mate for him was going to be a hard battle as we knew he wouldn’t cope with another loss. Shortly afterwards, we found a plea on Facebook from Pegasus Sanctuary which is a rescue centre for donkeys and horses based in Northern France. They had saved a small group of donkeys from an Italian meat market and had brought them home to the sanctuary. However, due to the lack of space and funding, they urgently needed to find homes for the donkeys.

The sanctuary knew that they were in a position to help but were not sure if Emmett would accept a new soul mate or if he would reject her as he previously had with other companions. Due to the dire circumstances the donkeys were facing in France, it was decided quite quickly that this was a risk worth taking. We soon realised however, that this was going to be an extremely costly operation. Ethel was found and now the two are inseparable.

Charlie was originally from the UK, before his previous owner rescued him and relocated him to Guernsey, Channel Islands. Where he lived with his donkey friend Elvis. Charlie is the biggest of the four donkeys with a dark chocolate coloured coat. We don’t have much history on Charlie's youth; however, we do know he worked hard in his younger days and may have been used for carrying things around.

Charlie then joined the sanctuary with his buddy Elvis in October 2022 as sadly their previous owner needed to find them another home due to change in circumstances.

Charlie and Elvis were never known to bray before coming to the sanctuary, their previous owners said they hadn’t ever heard them and didn’t think they could bray. However, when they arrived at the sanctuary after a couple of weeks, they found their voice and started braying - that’s a great sign of happiness!

Charlie is so caring and has a fond love and protection of Ethel and will look for her if she is not right in-front of him.

Elvis was originally from the UK, before his previous owner rescued him and relocated him to Guernsey, Channel Islands. Where he lived with his donkey friend Charlie.

Elvis is one of our full-sized donkeys. Elvis is easy to spot. He is the smaller of the two brown full-sized donkeys, he has some fat tissue on his neck due to being overweight when he was younger. Donkeys do not store fat in a very effective way so this was a health issue if not dealt with immediately. The sanctuary team worked tirelessly to get Elvis healthy again and put him on a special diet in order to make sure he could live his best life here on the sanctuary.

Now, Elvis is in much better shape and can be seen frolicing in the field with his three best buds.